Delegates to the annual CFT Convention passed two resolutions submitted by the CFT Part-Time Committee calling for the union to pursue legislation that would help part-time faculty secure full-time employment.

If successful, legislation emerging from Resolution 23 would call for community colleges to “replace a full-time faculty member who is either on sabbatical or long-term medical leave with a temporary full-time employee who is qualified and whenever possible, from the same institution.” Thus, colleges and districts would be obliged to fill that absence with one faculty member with all the responsibilities and compensation of the full-timer rather than staffing that full-timer’s classes with several part-time faculty.

Resolution 23 cites the benefits of such a requirement, including the greater familiarity of already-employed part-time instructors with “the academic standards, curriculum, personnel, and culture of the institution, thereby aiding in student success initiatives and other institutional goals.”

Resolution 24 cites the increased rates at which community colleges have lost experienced part-time instructors due to reduced class offerings, and the benefits of retaining experienced part-time faculty by hiring them when full-time positions become available. It would, if successful in the Legislature, “create a career path for those qualified temporary part-time instructors who desire to work as full-time by changing the California Education Code to allow for promotion of qualified experienced temporary part-time faculty to full-time regular employees.”